FASCICULI MALATENSES 
3 * 
though one man had a considerable growth on the lower part of the legs. 
The hair of the head was always black, but frequently had a marked brownish 
tinge, which was probably due in part, though perhaps not entirely, to lack 
of care and exposure to the weather. (Undoubtedly black hair loses its pig- 
ment, if neglected or exposed to sun and damp ; an instance of this came 
under our observation in the case of a Siamese belonging to the state of Nawng- 
chik, who had made a vow not to cut or tend his hair. On the scalp his hair was 
perfectly black, but it became paler the further it was from the roots, until on 
a level with the back of his knee it was a pale brown, but little darker than 
tow. The same thing may be observed among the little Orang Laut and 
Malay boys, who dive for coins in Singapore harbour, though the sea-water in 
this case may be an additional factor). In character the hair of the Mai Darat 
varies from straight to woolly, extremes in either direction being very rare ; 
but the intermediate varieties are so numerous that it is impossible to express 
them adequately by any system of nomenclature. The investigation is further 
complicated by the fact that, under Malay influence, the people are beginning 
to cut their hair short, or even to shave their heads. In the case of men, in 
whom there is no reason to suspect the presence of alien blood, the hair, when 
it has not been cut, either hangs down on the shoulders or else stands out 
round the face in an aureole 1 quite comparable to the 1 mop ’ of a Papuan. 
This aureole is largely an artificial product, produced by careful and frequent 
combing ; but it cannot be produced unless the hair is of a stiff and frizzly 
nature. There are many Mai Darat who could not produce it, and whose 
straight or wavy locks cannot be forced to stand out from the head. In the 
case of women, an attempt is often made to make the hair appear straighter 
than it naturally is, probably in order that they may seem like Malays ; it is 
plastered down with oil and dragged back from the roots, so that it may be 
made up into a bunch behind. We believe that considerable confusion has been 
caused owing to anthropologists not realizing that the hair of two Sakais of 
equally pure blood is not necessarily of the same character. The hair of the 
Mai Darat women may reach a considerable length, and in neither sex does 
it appear to be naturally shorter than that of a Chinaman or Malay. We 
noticed that both curly and wavy hair were extremely rare among very 
young children, though they were common among boys and girls of about 
ten years old. It is very improbable that this is due to intercourse with 
straight-haired races, for the Mai Darat are extremely jealous of the virtue of 
their women, and we have seen instances in point where the paternity was un- 
doubted. It is, therefore, almost certain that a change takes place in the 
l. None of our figures give any idea of the extent to which this ‘mop’ is sometimes developed. 
